Why am I going through hubs?

I own an 03 silverado half ton with an Ekstensive two link on the rear and basic bag setup in the front, conitech bags and half inch copper lines.  I noticed that my ABS light recently came on and my ride on the highway has some vibration.  Well to make a long story short, I took the truck in to have the front brakes and oil done yesterday and the tech working on it was pretty adiment that i get new hubs on both sides as well as tie rods.  He literally shook the wheel when it was up on the lift and it has some play in it when there was no weight on it.  He says my wheel is going to fall off soon and not to drive it.  This is my daily so I try to keep it in great condition, therefore I am worried.  The question is--Have any of you other silverado/sierra owners encountered this problem recently?   Which brand of hubs did you replace them with(Timken, oem chevy)?  Do I need any special tools besides an impact, sockets, torx?  How much should I expect to pay for hubs and tie rods?  by the way, the front right hub was replaced by a shop about eleven months ago when it was in to repair an imperfection in the upper bag mount(welded another gussett for peace of mind)  I heard  that sometimes the abs sensor becomes corroded and will trip, but I did notice that the wheel had some serious play in it.  As far as I know, the new hub assembly comes with a new ABS sensor as well.  Does it make a diff that my tires need replacement?  

i had a similar problem  but it was my rack and pinion that was messed up

I would take it to a good alignment shop in town and get there opinion cause its not gonna be cheap. Make sure that its the hub and not something else. If you replace the hubs get a "BCA" very good bearing. The Hubs run around $250-300. If you replace any front end joints like tie rods or ball joints I would highly suggest "MOOG". They are a really great quality company but the price is high. If the wheel is messed up It wouldnt hurt anything but you will need to get that fixed.  I would get the truck aligned at "ride height" also. hope this helps

Thank you that sounds like some good advice.  I am going to take it to a shop here in town for an estimate tomorrow.  the wheel itself looks to be fine, it is just the tire that looks shabby.  Is an alignment needed after hub replacement usually?  if it is not the hub then what else could it be?  remember that the wheel can kinda shake left to right when it is on the lift and there is no weight on the tire.  What exactly does the tie rod accomplish.  I know that this may sound like easy stuff for somepeople but I am new to suspension workings and still wondering if I should have it professionaly serviced.  Thanks for any advice.

i sell SBI hubs for 125+ shipping. i have never had one come back.. and they are pretty siple to change. im prettty sure it has nothing to do with your truck being bagged, i sell a ton of them to people with stock suspension.

The reasoning for the premature bearing wear is most likeley caused by the camber at ride height. If you run too much positive or negative camber when at ride  height, the wieght of the vehicle is no longer supported by the whole bearing assembly, but just the outer edges of the races that the bearing rides on. The hub/bearing is desinged to have an even force distributed throughout the width of the bearing, and when you modify the angle at which the bearing carries the load, the edge with the majority of the load on it will wear out quickly. This added stress on the bearing is what causes it to wear out/overheat the bearing, etc... Chevy's are notorious for the 99-03 front hubs to go out prematurely. You said that the tire is also worn badly on the edge. This shows that the camber is off at ride height, and is causing your bearing failure. As for the tie rods, I tend to see that the inner tie rods wear out often, just because of the constant up and down movent that we put them through when laying the truck out and again lifting it to drive. Its basically just the added wear and tear of stock parts on a bagged truck. The hub is super easy to replace and so are the tie rods. I would reccomend that if you are trying to save some bucks, replace the hubs and tie rods yourself, then take it to a shop and have it aligned at ride height. Just keep up on the alignments and have it checked on a regular basis and you should be fine. I hope this helps you out. 

OK. there is a inner and outter tie rod. The inner tie rod needs a special tool to change it. The outer is pretty easy. the hub is easy to change also.  if you ride down the road and you hear a roaring sound then its probablly the bearing. The newer chevys do have crappy bearing from the factory. Just let the Professionals look at it. The suspension is nothing to just mess around with. I wouldnt try to penny pinch on the front end eather. You could easily spend $500 to fix the problem. the outer tierod end: autozone specials cost around $25. the MOOG brand cost around $50. But its your ride and you gotta drive it.

Thank you guys for all the great advice